Mick Perez-Cruet, MD, is the chief of minimally invasive spine surgery at Beaumont Hospitals in Royal Oak, Mich., and a neurosurgeon at Michigan Head & Spine Institute in Southfield. He also serves as chairman, director and professor of minimally invasive spine surgery at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine and leads the Minimally Invasive Neurological Society.
Here, Dr. Perez-Cruet discusses where the spine field is headed.
Q: Where do you see the biggest opportunities for spine surgeons? How is the field evolving?
Dr. Mick Perez-Cruet: The biggest opportunities for spine surgeons are that we will continue to be extremely busy due to the growing aging population. Because patients expect to recover quickly and fully, minimally invasive spine surgery is growing in leaps and bounds with new MIS innovations and options continuing to expand.
I am particularly excited about the future of biologic treatment of spinal disorders. This remains a challenge but new and exciting research may, in the future, allow us to regenerate the intervertebral disc and restore natural function and motion to the degenerated vertebral segment. Our group is currently very active in this research using disc distractive device mechanisms in conjunction with cultured nucleus pulposus human stem cells to achieve this goal.